Self-contained gas anchor



Patented Jan. l, 1929..

UNITED STATES BIALLA1\T 1\T. MARSH, OF LOS ANGELES, GAL1'EORNIA.

SELF-CON'IAINED GAS ANCI-IOR.

Application fi1ed Mary 31,

A type of gas anchor in common use at this time, consists essentially ofa downward extension of the pump .suction, such extension being open atthe bottom, and of a. shie1d placed therearound,-such shield beingclosed a.t the botom und substantially open at the top, the upperportion of the shield cornmunicating with the oil in the W611 casing;through slots 01' perforations formed in the shield.

In the gas ancho-rs of this type heretofore constructed the extensin 0 fthe pump suction with constitutes the anchor proper has consisted of a1pipe of suitable 1ength sorewed into or otherwise made fast to the,bottom of the standing va.1ve block, and the shield has consisted 0f a.suitable length 01: a la.rger size -of pipe made fast at its upper endin some suitable manner to t he bottom of the working barreL the tvvopipes being concent1io and leaving an annula'r space therebetvveenthrou,qh Which the 011 fiows downward ab a retarded veloeity for theseparation of such gas as ma.y be entrainecl in the 0i1.

When building anchors of this type for use in wells ofverv smalldiameter the outside diameter of th e shield is rigidly limited und thethickness of the metal f-whic-h the concentric.tubes is composed is amateria.l proportion of the total transverse area of the anchor.-Inasmuch a's it is'highly desimble to retain the greatest possibleavailabletrans- Verse area. for the purpose of reducing t-he velocity 0fthe 011 flowing through the zmchor t0 the greatest possible extent, itis desimble t0 use as little metal as possible in the Walls 01: thetubes 01' ohannels of which the anchor is composed.

I ha.ve discovered tlfit by-buildingan 2mchor having a shield of adiamet-er which the' well casing W111 freely admit, und forming thechannel which constitutes the pump suction ext-ension inside this shieldb-y a straight 0r curved partition Wall pla.ced therein, I not on1yreduce the transverse area. of metal Wall ;1s compared with the ordinaryconst-ruction of two concentric pipes, but also obta.in a materiallybetter hydraulio radius 01' ratio 01 eross sectionzil area to perimeterof the downpass. The latter improvement is of material importance, notonly in reducing loss of head due to friction, but also by reducing theturbulenee which acts to retard the separation of gas from 011 in thedownpass.

A preferred manner of constructing my 1927. Serial N0. 195,552.

improved gas anchor is shown in the attached draw1ng 1n W111011 Figure 1represents a. complete device attached 150 the working barrel of thepump.

Figure 2 is a cross section of Fig. 1 on the line 22 showingparticularly the manner in which the partition Wall und the partitioncap are inserted und made fast.

Figure 3 is a oross section of Figure 1 on the 1ine 33 in dicatingparticulafly the man ner in which the partition Will]. is inserted inthe shield and Figure 4 is a. similar cross section illustrating analternative shape of p-artition Wall.

It Will -be understood that these drawings are strictly diagrammatic andthat I do not limit my 1nvention t0 the particular means shown for placing the partition in the shield, nor to any Curvature or particularcurvature of the partition, 1101 t0 the particular means tfor attachingthe shie1d to the pump.

Referring particularly to Figure l, 1 represents the 10wer end of theworking barrel,

whitzh is s'crewed irito the coupling 4 by means 0f the threads 5,corresponding threads being formed in the upper end of coupling und onthe lower end 0f the working banal. The

10wer end of the coupling may be recessed und the projecting endthreaded as shown at 6, and corresponding internal threads formed in theshield 7 by which the shield may b e made fast 00 the coupling, 0r anyother suitab1e or' preferred means of attaching the shield to thecoupling may be used. Inside the shield 7 i's placed a partition 8 Whichdivides the shield into two parts. This partition may be placed in theshiel'd a.s shown at 99 in Fig. 2 by removing with a. flamme Gutshieldas indica.ted at 10, und this piece Weld- 7 ed. to' the p-artition undto the wallof the shie'ald as indicated at 11. By following thisprocedure all points t0 be welded are readily a.ccessible to either .agas 01' e1ectric welding cool and the structure shown m2.y be made upwithout encountering any mehanical difficulties, but I do not restrictmyself 120 any particular mannen of inserting und closing ofl thepartition inasmuch as there are numerous ways in which the partitionmay'be placed and ma.de fast which will suggest themselves to thoseskilled in the art.

'Ilhe partition which separates the narrow suctiqn extension from thewider downpass,

- ;cated at 12 and 13. These perforations should not extend fair enougharound the shield that any of them would come on the narrow sidewhichconstitutes the up-pass. The perforations may be placed in tworings 01' bands as inclicated in the drawing, these bands being spaced afew inches apart, 01' they may be placed in a single band, as preferred.The size of the perforations shoulcl prefembly be about 4" for a 3anchor though larger 01' smaller perforations may be used if desired.The total area of t-he perforations shoul'cl be not less than thetransverse area of the downpass side 0f the anchor as indicated at 14:,and should preferably be t'wo 01 three times greater in total rea.

The uppass or pump suction channel formed in the shield, as at 15,should be as large as casing diameters Will permit. In ordinary casesthe area Will correspon'd to the transverse internal area of a 1" 01 1pipe.

The bottom of the shield may be close d by swaging the pipe of which itis composed down to the diameterof the next smaller pipe size, asindicated at 16, screwing it into the coupling 17 and blocking thiscoupling with the bull plug 18., but any other -suitable 01 preferre'dmeans for closing the bottom of the shield may be used, the mannerofclosing the shield ab this end being no part 0f my present invention.

In operation this anchor functions in tlie following manner. Oil flowsinto theperforations 13 from the space between the shield 7 and thewe1lcasing, not shown, giving up a p0r ti0n of its entrained gas atthepoint where itmakes a rightangle turn t0 enter such perforations. Onentering the shield the oil again turns at a right angle and flowsdownward through the space 14, being prevented from passing into thepump suction by the partition cap 10. Because f the relatively largetransverse area of the downpass 14 the flow of oil downward is soretarded that gas bubbles may rise through it by gravity und escape intothe casing outside of. the shielcl through the perforations 125 the gasbeing prevented from passing int0 the pump suction by the partition 8and rises through the up-pass 15 by which it is conducted into thechamber 16 and thence to the pump suction,

all as indicated by the directional arro-ws' placed on the drawing;

I claim as my invention:

A gas anchor, comprising: a tube adapted to form a longitudinalextension of a, pump barrel and to be attachd t0 an'd communicate Withthe lower end cf said barrel ab end only, and having its lower endclose'd; a longitudin'al partition extending from Wall to Wall 0f saidtube, j.oined t0 said wall' a1; its longitudinal e dges and dividingsaid tube into two longtudinal channels of unequal area, said partitionterminating atits upper end at a point below the upper end of said tubeand at itslower end at a poinbabove the lower end of said tube so as topermit the Passage of liquid beneath the lower endmnd' 0ver the upperend of said partition; a elosure joining the upper end of said partitionto a portion of the inner circumference '0f Said tube in suchmanner asto close the upper end 0f only the Wider of said unequal channels, andopenings through said tube wallbeneath sai'd closure communicmting withsaid wider channel only and at substantially the upper end of saidchannel.

In witness that I claim the foregoin,g I

day of May, 1927.

HALLAN N. MARSH.

haVe hereunto subscribod my name this 23rcl its uppen

